The Second Part of Henry IV is the third part of Shakespeare’s second tetralogy of history plays and in terms of language, theme and dramatic structure, the weakest. It continues the story of Prince Hal’s progress towards kingship and his succession to the throne. In his progress, Hal again rejects Falstaff and the petty criminals and cronies who hang around him and again responds well to the military requirements placed upon him when rebellion grips the country. However, the plot mirrors the first part of Henry IV and is less interesting here. Indeed, the plot becomes a little foolish when Hal walks off with his father’s crown, believing the old man to have succumbed to the Grim Reaper, only to have the king rally and bemoan his son’s apparent perfidy and greed. Even so, the play ends well in that father and son are reunited, the prince becomes the king and the criminals are all locked up, disgraced or, in the case of Falstaff, dead. Clearly, the conclusion of the play represents the closing of an era or at least an important moment in the progress of history.

Shakespeare used various chronicles and sources in his recreation of history in this play. Principal among them were the Chronicles of Raphael Holinshed and a play on the Wars of the Roses by Edward Hall. Although he did not do so as explicitly as for example Hegel or Marx would have done much later, Shakespeare nevertheless shows history to be following a particular course in which moral or ethical lessons may be discerned. This method was strongly influenced by the situation in which Shakespeare found himself, at the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Although the queen is widely believed to be one of England’s greatest monarchs and her reign a time of flowering culture and almost indeed a golden age, it is also true that the court was a repressive place, full of spies and practitioners of realpolitik. It was a place and a reign in which a careless writer could easily find himself (or herself, although this was much rarer) in serious trouble. Hence, Shakespeare’s presentation of history is generally one in which improvement in the character and wealth of the country is continual as long as a strong monarch occupies the throne and rules according to just and proper means. To this, Shakespeare also added characters from every rank and class of society (the sex worker Doll Tearsheet, for example, is an integral part of this play) so as both to reinforce his message and also to provide some entertaining buffoonery for the audience in the pit.